Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Grilled and roasted red mullet with pancetta and thyme

Finally, finally back to Jamie. It is one of those weeks, jammed full of tedious meetings and flurries of paperwork, that I read and promptly forget the content of. There are weeks like that. Luckily there's nothing on television so I don't feel I'm missing out too much when the papers come home with me. Anyway yesterday Simon managed to use his lunch break to go to the fishmonger so we were lucky enough to be able to get red mullet. I don't know if I'd had red mullet before - I don't remember, but then I've had all sorts of fish in France that I didn't know the names for at the time, so I might have had. In any case I certainly never cooked it before so it felt more exciting than the usual suspects (salmon being most frequently called upon, mainly out of convenience). The only thing was that I was rushing around a lot yesterday and so hardly had time to brief Simon on what fish to buy. He returned from the fishmonger and announced he had found 2 red mullet, scaled, cleaned and gutted, but headless. I was disappointed because I liked the aesthetics of the head-on red mullet gleaming out of Jamie's photo; when it comes to food photos, I can be a bit superficial. I got over it quickly enough when we got home and unwrapped the fish - they looked pearly pink and beautiful, even without their heads. And losing the heads does make eating them feel a bit less visceral, somehow.

This is another simple recipe, which is good for those nights when you hurry home from work late under yet another raincloud and can't be bothered with fancy cooking. Basically, rub each fish with olive oil and season them, inside and out; stuff with lemon slices and sprigs of thyme or marjoram. Griddle on each side for 1 minute, remove to a chopping board, wrap each fish in two slices of pancetta and top with an anchovy fillet, then roast, topped with extra herbs, until cooked.

I had no idea how this was going to taste. I was hoping that the herbs, combined with lemon, pancetta and anchovy would make the dullest fish taste good. I was right, except that red mullet isn't dull at all - it had an amazing flavour. I really enjoyed this; it was incredibly tasty and, although headless, still exquisitely pink and pretty. I ate it almost drooling, and the bones for once didn't bother me, because the fish was so good. I can't believe I waited 31 years to try red mullet and I will definitely try it again, soon. Yum.

I've missed Jamie's recipes over the last week. The problem is simply finding an opportunity to locate ingredients and/or to find time to, for example, make pasta for dinner. If we get home by 6, it's fine. Any later and we're eating the wallpaper. Well, not literally, because we don't have wallpaper, but I have never been one to allow literality to cramp my style. The problem is I'm already craving red mullet again, but next I need to track down some John Dory, or a whole salmon small enough to feed two. Not to mention attend another series of meetings and read some more ozone-layer killing stacks of papers.

42 comments:

mullet is an amazing tasting fish Katherine, I agree wholeheartedly!It is the fish that I grew up on. I remember Mom frying whole mullet in olive oil and then my brother and I sneaking into the kitchen and pinching off the cripsy tails to eat as a treat, yum, delicious!!!

Anna, I am definitely going to buy it more often as it looks pretty and it tastes great. Margaret, try it - it was a flavour revelation. And thanks for commenting. Freya, I know what you mean... the fishmonger cut it off, though.

Am annoyed because work is giving me no time to blog - too many evenings taken up with work as well as the day...

I've had too many of 'those' weeks lately! I have only had red mullet once and loved it so this definitely looks like one to try. For some unknown reason I still haven't bought this book but you are convincing me that it is a necessary purchase!

Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is fundamental and everything. Nevertheless just imagine if you added some great graphics or videos to give your posts more, "pop"! Your content is excellent but with pics and clips, this blog could definitely be one of the greatest in its niche.Great blog!

Have you ever thought about creating an e-book or guest authoring on other websites? I have a blog based upon on the same topics you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my readers would appreciate your work.If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.

I know this if off topic but I'm looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is needed to get setup? I'm assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I'm not very web smart so I'm not 100% positive.Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

Hi I am so excited I found your weblog, I really found you by mistake,while I was researching on Yahoo for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a marvelous post and a all round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design),I don’t have time to read through it all at the moment but I have book-marked it and also added your RSS feeds,so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the fantastic b.

Good day! I could have sworn I've been to this website before but after going through many of the articles I realized it's new to me. Regardless, I'm definitely delighted I came across it and I'll be book-marking it and checking back frequently!

This is the perfect blog for anyone who really wants to find out about this topic.You realize a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really would want to…HaHa).You definitely put a new spin on a topic that's been discussed for years. Great stuff, just excellent!

I absolutely love your blog.. Excellent colors & theme.Did you create this site yourself? Please reply back as I'm wanting to create my own blog and want to know where you got this from or just what the theme is named. Cheers!

An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I think that you ought to publish more on this issue, it might not be a taboo matter but generally people don't discuss these topics. To the next! Best wishes!!

This is the right web site for everyone who wishes to understand this topic.You know so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really would want to…HaHa). You certainly put a brand new spin on a subject which has been written about for a long time.

Hey! I know this is somewhat off topicقهوة but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form قمر?I'm using the same blog platform as yours and I'm having difficulty finding one?دليل الطائفThanks a lot!

I'm very happy to uncover this web site. I need to to thank you for your time for this fantastic read!! I definitely loved every little bit of it and i also have you book-marked to check out new stuff in your web site.

I'm really enjoying the design and layout of your site. It's a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme?Superb work!

Do you have a spam issue on this website; I also am a blogger,and I was wondering your situation; many of us have created some nice methods and we are looking to exchange solutions with other folks, why not shoot me an email if interested.

With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright violation? My blog has a lot of unique content I've either authored myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my permission. Do you know any solutions to help prevent content from being stolen? I'd truly appreciate it.

I'm extremely inspired along with your writing abilities and also with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid subject matter or did you modify it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one these days..

Excellent article. Keep posting such kind of info on your blog. Im really impressed by your site.Hello there, You have performed an incredible job. I'll certainly digg it and in my view recommend to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this website.

Hi, I do think this is a great website. I stumbledupon it ;) I will return yet again since I book marked it.Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide others.